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Sleep is crucial for our well being, and your bedroom is at the heart of your sleep quality.
When it comes to designing your bedroom for better sleep, there are important factors that you need to consider; some subtle and some obvious.
We'll walk you through all of it so you can design your bedroom for better sleep!
The Room
The bedroom is considered one of the most private rooms in a house, with exception to the bathroom (no surprise there).
Given that we're talking about a personal space, intended to maximize your comfort, here we need to take into account function over form.
While form is still important, we need to optimize the factors that impact our sleep.
The principles we'll walk through here should be general enough to take into account various room shapes and sizes.
1. Choose Calming Colors
When choosing your color scheme, opt for a soothing color palette with soft tones like blues, greens, or muted grays.
While colors don't directly impact your sleep, according to the sleep foundation, they do play a role in our emotional state which aids in the process of falling asleep.
Blues, greens and lighter colors are known to do the trick when increasing positive emotions for sleep.
For inspiration on a color pallet, check out some designs here at Elledecor or just drop your idea into Pinterest!
2. Control Lighting For Nighttime
Lighting is HUGE when it comes to sleep. Check out this blurb from the Sleep Foundation:
"Light plays a central role in regulating circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock that signals when to be alert and when to rest. Light also affects the production of melatonin, an essential sleep-promoting hormone."
Controlling the light to set the mood is an important part of our body's process of winding down and preparing for rest.
Here are some key tips on lighting:
- Install dimmable lighting fixtures to adjust for the desired mood.
- Use warm-toned, dimmable lights in the evening.
- Blackout curtains to block out external light for better sleep, especially if you're in a city with 24/7 artificial light or you have children who need quality naptime!
Overall, you don't want your lighting to feel like a doctors office or an interrogation room. Choose the lighting fixtures and options that resonate with you and help you enjoy your room while optimizing it for better sleep.
3. Declutter Your Bedroom
Clutter, disorganization and pure messiness create stress and anxiety that prevent us from relaxing. There is a clear connection with clutter and mental health, just check out this information from verywellmind.com: Clutter and Mental Health: What's the Connection? (verywellmind.com).
I know, we all can be messy sometimes, but it is crucial to clean up, put things where they belong and create a sense of clarity in our rooms (and ultimately our lives!).
So what can we do? Here are some ideas:
- Keep surfaces free from clutter and dust!
- Maintain a regular cleaning and organizing schedule. (buy a cheap checklist on Amazon to keep you on track)
- Go through your belongings and give away or get rid of what you no longer need or want.
- Adopt minimalist design principles.
- Invest in organization tools to accommodate your weaknesses:
Just remember, when it comes to designing your bedroom for better sleep, a tidy room promotes mental clarity and reduces stress, contributing to the peaceful environment we need and desire for sleep.
4. Incorporate Natural Elements
Bring nature indoors with plants, natural materials, or even a small indoor fountain.
Certain household plants are widely known to play a part to increase comfort and decrease stress within your home.
For the bedroom, look for plants that induce sleep and help in air purification. Plants like lavender or jasmine are known to help us fall asleep and stay asleep.
Check out this article from StartSleeping.org on the best plants for inducing sleep and purifying the air around us. They even have a chart on which ones are a potential danger to animals so you can pick the right one for your bedroom!
These elements not only add aesthetic appeal but also contribute to a calming atmosphere in your bedroom which will allow you get better sleep.
5. Personalize Decor Thoughtfully
The bedroom is the one spot that is uniquely your space. Not a hosting venue, not a hangout spot, not a party room but rather, your bedroom should be your sanctuary of rest.
You need to make this place the place that is personalized and customized to appeal to your taste.
Whether that means personal touches with decor that holds sentimental value, customized art, family photos or cherished mementos from your travels or friends,
You should find what appeals to you and stimulates the feeling of comfort and relaxation!
If you haven't found these personalize touches yet, consider
- Customizable photo canvas
- Meaningful or classic art from your favorite artists
- Music decor if you're a musician
- Chalkboard wall or white board
- Custom or DIY headboard
- Personalized throw pillows, bedding, blankets or rugs
- Sentimental or heirloom furniture pieces
Personalizing your bedroom is a big step in the process of designing your bedroom for better sleep as it provides comfort and that unique feeling of home you can't get anywhere else!
6. Prioritize Comfortable Furniture
In addition to your bed, other furniture in your room should also be proven assets of comfort. Whether you're doing your make-up, lounging, putting your socks on for work, rocking your newborn baby to sleep - Invest in comfortable furniture that complements your style and needs.
A cozy reading chair, super soft rug, or plush cushions can enhance the comfort of your space.
Raymour & Flanigan actually has an Online Room Planner that will help you craft your dream room!
Better sleep will be on the way!
7. Maintain Clean Air
Air is obviously essential to our existence and well-being. In the place where you rest for 8 hours at a time, you need to be sure you're breathing in clean air.
Here are helpful tips to ensure good air quality:
- Make sure HVAC systems in your house are clean and mold is not present. Hire a professional.
- Regularly ventilate your room with some fresh air.
- Consider adding indoor plants known for their air-purifying properties.
- Invest in a high-quality air purifier. Don't skimp on cheap one.
Check out Brondell's top notch Air Purifiers!
- Hire a professional to test the air quality in your house or invest in air quality testing technology and test it yourself.
While your body is resting and recovering, pure air plays a significant role in maximizing those sacred hours of sleep.
8. Create a Tranquil Sound Environment
Of the five human senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, sound) we've touched on sight and touch the most. Next up to bat is definitely the sound!
Listen to this from Sleepscore.com's article on How Noise Affects Sleep:
"Noise at night can prevent you from falling asleep initially, and sounds during the night can wake you leaving you unable to return to sleep. Even noises that don’t wake you can have a detrimental effect on sleep quality. While you snooze, the sleeping brain continues to register and process sound. "
Sound is powerful when it comes to getting restful sleep. So the question is, how can we account for sound in designing our bedroom for better sleep?
Welp, we have some ideas that will may work for you:
- Use a sound machine for white noise or calming soundscapes to mask any disruptive noises from outside. This is probably one of the easiest and cheapest routes.
- If sound machines aren't for you and you prefer silence, sometimes earplugs can do the trick. This is also cheap.
- General acoustic improvement of your room could be accomplished by utilizing furniture like bookshelves, dressers, rugs or other wall decor which will naturally block sound. As part of your base design for your room, this could provide minor improvements.
- You could try acoustic paneling if it fits your theme and ambient noise is an issue. Try these budget ones or these more luxury ones.
- If you want some sound and you're not sure what to listen to, relax and decompress by listening to eBooks on Amazon Audible. If you're not sure if that's for you, no worries, they have free trials if you're unsure about it.
9. Set a Comfortable Room Temperature
Science and sleep experts have told us many times:
Keep your room at a comfortable temperature for sleep. A cool room with adequate ventilation promotes better sleep quality. 60-68 degrees is ideal.
Consider hiring a professional to install a programmable thermostat to ensure you're getting the temperature where you need it and when you need it!
Or, if you don't have air conditioning, sometimes a good ole fan can cool you off and get the job done (while provide some white noise!).
10. Incorporate Relaxing Aromas
We discussed sight, feel and sound but what about smell for your bedroom?
Scents and fragrance have a profound affect on the human body. Try incorporating a aromatherapy into your bedtime routine.
Among the most popular and effective ideas you could try:
- Smelling or applying essential oils before bed.
- Diffusing essential oils that promote sleep in your bedroom.
- Burning Calming aromatherapy candles before bed.
- Ensuring you keep your sheet and fabrics clean with mild scents that are not overpowering.
While it might seem silly at first thought, accommodating for your natural power of smell is actually important factor when it comes to designing your bedroom for better sleep.
The Bed
Okay, so we've discussed the room itself. Now, we've made it to the bed! The pinnacle of designing our room for better sleep!
Here we'll keep things simple.
We've dug around for what bedding options are the best for sleep and comfort and here is what we've found to be the key takeaways:
For the Mattress:
- A sturdy, appealing bedframe with a design that YOU personally desire to be in.
- A supportive, medium to firm mattress made of durable materials.
- If you have allergy sensitivities - opt for a memory phone mattress as those are dust-mite resistant.
Try Purple for ultimate, homedelivered comfort.
For the Bedsheets:
- If you get too hot, opt for breathable linens, bamboo, or silk.
- If you get too cold, opt for flannels and polyesters.
- If you're in the middle, opt for cotton based or bamboo.
- If you are looking for luxury, look for Egyptian, Pima, and Supima cotton or silk.
For Pillows:
- Go for firm yet comfortable, providing adequate support for your head and neck. It doesn't have to be a brick!
- For pillowcases, follow the guide for bed sheets above. It's probably best to get them all in a set anyway.
Okay so now you have your information, so where can we make these investments?
- Raymour & Flanigan has excellent, high quality bedding options from sheets to bedframes. Check out their bedding options here.
- Purple also has everything you need from mattresses & bedframes to pillows & bedding! Make sure you take their Mattress Quiz to see what Mattress is best for you!
Raymour & Flanigan also carries almost every major mattress brand you can think of and also runs deals frequently. We recommend them as the first stop for mattresses.
- Pillow-Fight.com has highly rated, premium pillows, bedding and even mattresses and toppers. Check them out here.
- Amazon has a range of options; from budget-based selections all the way to luxury. It's always worth taking a peek there in your shopping journey!
Investing in quality bedding is perhaps the most important decision point when it comes to designing your room for better sleep. Given sleeps importance when it comes to your body and health, it's worth the investment.
Preparing You For Sleep!
Finally, the last topic, YOU! That's right, you. Now that you know what you need in order to design your room and your bed for better sleep, the last thing is optimizing your habits and routines.
Given that life is complicated, and everyone's life is different, we decided to really make these last points simple before bed:
'Tech Free Me'
Keep your sleep sanctuary free from electronic devices when it's time for sleep. Our phones are very addicting, and our prolonged screen time is actually hurting our body's ability to rest and recharge.
Do yourself a favor and create a tech-free zone to disconnect from screens and minimize disruptions to your sleep. Set your alarms, close your eyes, relax and just fall asleep.
If you struggle with addiction to your phone, here are some resources online that can help you break free:
- becomingminimalist - 7 Proven Ways to Break Your Cell Phone Addiction
- Verywell Health - Phone Addiction: What You Need to Know
- Psych Central - How to Stop Being ‘Addicted’ to Your Phone
You got this!
Establish a Relaxing Bedtime Routine
We all know the power in routines. If you can establish some good ones, your odds of success in life go way up! Why not make it a goal to establish a solid bedtime routine?
In addition to your nightly hygiene, incorporate some pre-sleep rituals such as
- Reading a book
- Prayer
- Meditation
- Reviewing the day's achievements
- Journaling
- Writing goals for tomorrow
- Practicing mindfulness
These activities signal to your body that it's time to wind down and prepare for sleep and they can be accounted for in your new bedroom design.
Overall, while there are other factors that may play a role in designing your bedroom for better sleep, we find these to be the most important.
We hope you found this guide helpful and encourage you to please share! And if you haven't already, please subscribe! We're just getting started here!
Thank you for reading our Ultimate Guide: Design Your Bedroom for Better Sleep!
Happy sleeping!
